Burning Love
by Vampire-Apprentice
Summary: A love story about how not everything that Pyro done was bad or because of Magneto. He loved someone once, though he was dark at heart and she knew it. Yet she loved it. There is a different and much better summary inside. Please Enjoy, Read and Review. PS the rating might change, depending on where I take this story.
1. Broken Home

**_He met her on the corridors of the mansion, he was the manipulator of fire and she was the one of the only things that could stop him. He didn't plan on falling in love, he planned on being alone and gaining fame through being the top mutant, the one people feared the most yet when he first found her, his heart skipped a beat. She on the other hand, had lost everything, her parents her friends and her life, coming to the Xavier Institute was the only option she had. She hated her powers and she thought that she would always be alone, until she saw him and she knew that he was the one. Now all they had to do was tell that to each other._**

**_Read Review and Enjoy_**

Chapter 1 – Broken Home

"John, will you get up already, you're going to be late for training."

John groaned as he threw his pillow over his head, he certainly wasn't a morning person, and his roommate Bobby Drake had been calling him for over an hour in order to get him up.

"Go away Bobby." He groaned.

"I would if Storm wouldn't bust my ass for not getting you up on time." Bobby told him, suddenly freezing John's bed making him jump up and out of bed. "There we go."

John glared at him, before he yawned and got dressed into his usual leather training suit, and he and Bobby walked down to the training arena. When they got to the door of the training area, they found Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Wolverine and Storm waiting for them, Storm holding a less than amused look.

"You're both late." She told them, and she certainly didn't sound amused.

"Yeah sorry, John found his bed far too comfy." Bobby told her, just like Bobby not to want to get into trouble for anything.

John just looked on, and when everyone looked at him he simply gave them a shrug, yet turned around when they heard a voice behind him.

"Storm, would it be possible for me to borrow a student for the day?"

The voice came from none other than Charles Xavier, a bald man who was confined to a wheelchair, yet a very powerful mutant, though no one thought that just by looking at him.

"Of course Professor." Storm nodded.

"I would like Kitty to accompany me today." He nodded to Shadowcat, who looked up.

"Oh, um, sure thing Professor." The girl now known as Kitty told him, before the girl took off her ear piece and handed it back to Storm before going to get changed once more.

As the Professor and Kitty left, the rest of the group put in their earpieces and walked into the danger room.

"Run Danger Situation 2.4" Storm commanded, and the scene around them transformed into a courtyard, littered with rubble and broken cars, as well as the occasional fires. As they all looked around, they suddenly found them under fire from a centennial, and then they all split up. Bobby and John ran in one direction, whilst Colossus and Rogue went in another and finally Wolverine and Storm went in a third. Each one used their powers in order to protect themselves from the attacks. Bobby used his power to shield him and John from getting hit, whilst Colossus used his power to stop a piece of debris from hitting him and Rogue, whilst Storm and Wolverine looked out for themselves. When the session eventually ended, John, Bobby and Rogue were walking towards the games room after changing out of their leather training suit, when they always ran into Kitty.

"Whoa, hey Kitty." Bobby smiled. "Thought you were heading out with the Professor."

"Hey, and I am, but we're going to Australia, so we have to wait a while." She told him, blushing softly.

"Where about in Australia?" John asked her.

"Um, Queensland, I think." Kitty told him.

"That's a good place; I used to go swimming off the reef there with my brothers." John mused.

"Do you want me to ask the Professor if you can go?" Kitty asked.

"Nah, I can't be bothered traipsing all the way back home thanks." John told her, walking into the games room.

"Why don't you come and play some games with us, you know, before you go and spend time in Australia." Bobby asked.

"Um, nah I'd best go and get my things together." Kitty told him, before she walked away.

Later that evening, Kitty met the Professor by the X-Jet and she found that Beast had followed them.

"Ah Hank, are you ready to go?" Professor Xavier asked.

Hank looked at him. "Go where, exactly Professor?"

"To pick up a new student." Xavier told him.

Beast looked at him. "Of course, I would love to be one of the first to meet our new student." He walked onto the jet with Kitty and as she sat in a seat, the Professor and Beast sat in the pilot seats. As the jet flew, Kitty looked at them.

"Speak your mind Kitty." The professor told her.

"I'm just wondering Professor, why you asked me to go when there are people more suited." Kitty asked. "I mean, Rogue could have come instead, or Bobby or even Jean."

"Because this girl is your age, and you and she have a few things in common." Xavier told her.

"Like what?"

"Her father is also in the army, though unlike yours, hers died during battle, her stepfather is strict catholic and won't even acknowledge her abilities and he treats her like dirt."

"I don't see how I can help her." Kitty told him.

"You can acknowledge the difficulties in her life, and show her friendship."

"Okay, but I still don't see why the others couldn't have done it." She rested back in her seat and decided to sleep the flight away.

When they eventually landed, Beast shook Kitty awake, and she grabbed her bag, walking out of the jet with him. When they were outside, Kitty noticed that they were in a field, which was surrounded by houses, yet they were all in the distance.

"Where are we?" Kitty asked.

"Queensland, Australia, if you were to walk a few minutes that way and you get to the beach that has Great Barrier Reef coming off of it." Beast told her. "Now come on, let's find this new student."

"Very well Hank, this way you two." Xavier wheeled himself out of the field, towards the houses, and they soon came to a quaint little road of houses. Xavier wheeled them down to near the end of the street, where two houses stood, one was beautifully painted and maintained, the other was just as beautiful.

"Which house is it Charles?" Beast asked.

"The one on the right." Xavier wheeled himself towards it, and with Beast's help, he got onto the veranda in his wheelchair, and rang the doorbell.

Kitty stood beside the Professor as Beast stood behind them, and they waited patiently as the door opened and a young girl stood there, she looked no older than four years old.

"Hello." Charles smiled at the girl. "My name is Charles Xavier and these are some of my friends, your parents are expecting us."

"Mummy, there are some people at the door for you." The girl shouted through the house, and a woman, who looked quite beautiful even though she was aged, answered the door. "Ah, you're the Professor that I spoke to the other day, come in." She led them into the living room.

The house itself looked spotless, and the little girl was sitting in front of the television playing with her dolls.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" The woman asked.

"A glass of water please." Beast asked, and Kitty asked for the same.

"If possible, could I possibly have a cup of tea?" Charles asked.

"Of course." She then looked at the little girl. "Jamie, why don't you go and get your sister."

"Okay mummy." The girl picked up her doll and walked upstairs, a few minutes later coming down again still carrying her doll.

"Where is she?"

"She's upstairs, she said that she was just finishing off her homework then she would be down."

"Alright then." The woman replied, and a few minutes later, they all heard footsteps coming down the path towards the door and the front door opened.

"Wife, I'm home." A man in a suit walked into the room, and paused at seeing Xavier, Beast and Kitty sitting there along with his wife and presumably his daughter.

"What do we have here?" He asked.

"Honey, these are the people from the Xavier Institute who have come to talk to us about our daughter." The woman told him.

"_Your_ daughter." The man pointed out, before he looked at his wife. "Get me a beer."

The woman nodded, and got up, leaving the room and coming back with a cold beer, finding the man now in her seat, so she stood.

"Where is the little trollop anyway?" The man asked.

"She's coming downstairs shortly, just finishing her homework." The woman told him, but the man still told her to fetch her.

"And drag her down if you have to, I know that it works better." The man told her off handily.

"Don't bother wasting your energy." Came the reply, and everyone looked over at the doorway as a girl with tanned skin, and mousy brown hair stood there. She had the body of a model, from the pinched in waist to the perfectly shaped breasts, and she wore denim shorts and a vest top, her feet were bare from being in the house, and her hair had ringlets in.

"Ah, here she is the family tart." The man suddenly spoke, causing the girl to look at him with cold, dark almond coloured eyes.

"You must be Ashlyn." Xavier asked her with a comforting smile as she moved to stand in front of the group.

"Just Ash." The girl told him, giving him a small smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you...Mr…"

"Xavier, Charles Xavier." Charles held out his hand and he watched the girl take it, giving him a handshake, before he looked over at Kitty. "This is Kitty Pryde, she is one of my students, and this is Hank McCoy, one of my teachers."

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you teach Mr McCoy?" The woman asked.

"Politics." Hank told her. "It sound boring, but I try and make it as fun as possible."

The woman nodded politely. "Oh, right…"

"Could we possibly speak to Ashlyn – sorry, Ash – alone for a few moments?" Xavier asked.

"No, I'd prefer to be present; she has a habit of telling lies." The man told them, watching Ashlyn closely.

"I'm not a compulsive liar like you." Ashlyn told him, which caused the man to stand and suddenly back hand her across the face, with such force that she hit the floor.

"Joshua, please not in front of company." The woman whimpered, which caused her to be dragged from the room by the man.

As the couple left, Kitty offered the girl a hand in standing back up but Ash shook her head and stood up on her own accord. When she stood up, her hair had moved, to reveal bruises on her neck.

"Ash, what has been happening here?" Xavier asked.

Ashlyn pushed her hair back into place, hiding the bruises and she walked to where Jamie was hiding behind the sofa, silently crying. "It's alright Jamie." She picked her up into her arms, before she looked at her sister. "Jamie is his daughter, my half-sister through my mother, I noticed that he was abusive to both me and my mother within the first three weeks of their relationship, when Jamie was born he doted on her, he would never hurt her."

"Then personally, I think that it is imperative that you come to the Institute with us, tonight." East told her.

"But, I don't want to leave my mother." Ashlyn told them. "She can't handle things here on her own; she needs me and my ability."

"Then leave." Kitty told her.

"She can't, she has no were else to go, and that's why she moved here after my dad died, his savings kept me and her on our feet until she met Joseph." Ashlyn told them, putting her sister down and watched her run away, before she sat down in the armchair, and they could all hear Joseph yelling at her mother and things being thrown. Xavier, Kitty and Beast all saw how irate it was making Ashlyn to have to listen to it all.

"Ash, what is your actual gift?" Beast asked.

Ashlyn looked up at him. "I'm a shield, though right now, its strength is determined by my anger."

"Ah, that is quite interesting; I've never met anyone like you before." Beast smiled.

She smiled, back, just as her mother walked in, holding a cloth to her cheek. "Mother, what happened?" She asked as she stood up.

"Ashlyn dear, its n-nothing." Her mother stuttered.

"Heck is that nothing." She pulled the cloth away from her mother's cheek, revealing a deep cut in her cheek. "Did he do this?"

"Ashlyn, don't start any trouble." Her mother warned.

"I start trouble, mother he beats the pair of us, for the sake of all of us, leave him." Ashlyn begged.

"You know I can't, look Ashlyn just go to the Institute, make a life, excel in your gift, and don't come back here. Have a proper life." Her mother told her.

Ashlyn looked at her and nodded, before looking back at the Professor and his two guests. "I'll be back down shortly." She told them, before she looked at her little sister. "Jamie, do you want to come and help me?"

Jamie gave her a timid nod, and they left the room, going upstairs, before her mother looked at the Professor.

"I want you to promise me something Professor."

"What do you want me to promise you?" The Professor asked.

"That no matter what happens, unless it is something really necessary, you won't let her come back here, and you will give her the family that she deserves." She told him.

"I promise you, that I will do just that." Xavier promised her. "Ashlyn will be very looked after, and she will have Kitty to be there for her."

The woman nodded. "Does she get her own room?"

"She can if she wants to." He told her. "Does she prefer to be alone?"

"Yes, it's safer." She told him.

"Stop speaking, now!" Joseph shouted to her as he walked in. "I want these freaks out of this house now! And that slut isn't going anywhere!" He pointed to Ashlyn as she walked back downstairs with her bag.

"Just shut up Joseph!" Ashlyn suddenly shouted, and as he stalked over, she stood her ground and watched him suddenly stop, since she had been projecting her shield since she came downstairs with her bags. "And don't worry, I'm going, but it's not for my sake, it's for my mother. She wants to protect me and I don't know why, but if you so much as mark her skin with a scratch, I will come down on your head, so heard it will explode. Do you understand me?"

"I'm not scared of you Ashlyn." Joseph told her.

"Ashlyn baby, just go." Her mother told her, walking to her and hugging her. "I love you and I will call you sometime tonight or tomorrow, okay?"

Ashlyn looked up at her mother and nodded. "Alright…Be careful and please find your own home soon." She told her in a whisper as she hugged her, before she gained a hug from Jamie. "Be a good girl Jay, I'll see you soon." She then walked away with the Professor, Kitty and Beast. As they all got onto the jet, she looked back at her hometown, and she took a deep breath before walking into the jet and taking a seat at the very back, and she soon found Kitty joining her.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

"That's up to you." Ashlyn told her, looking at the roof of the jet as it set off. "So what is this place that we are going to?"

"It's a place where all mutants can be safe." Kitty told her. "You'll make friends pretty quick, and if you want, I'll be your friend. I already think you're pretty cool."

Ashlyn looked at her and smiled. "I'd like that."


	2. Two Lovers Meet

Chapter 2 – Two Lovers Meet

They arrived back at the institute early the next morning, and the Professor and Beast smiled as they saw the pair of them asleep.

"Kitty, Ash, wake up, we're here." Beast told them, gently shaking each of them in turn, though as he touched Ashlyn, he and the Professor were suddenly thrown back into the controls of the jet. The sound of the men both hitting the controls jolted Kitty and Ashlyn from their sleep and Kitty ran over to them and helped them to their feet.

"Oh god, Professor, what happened?" Kitty asked.

"Now we see why Ashlyn's mother told us to keep her in a room on her own when she sleeps." Beast told her as he got up and helped Kitty to get Charles up.

"I'm so sorry Professor." Ashlyn whispered.

"It's alright Ashlyn, you weren't to know." The Professor told her as they walked out of the jet, and were met by a woman with white hair – Storm.

"Ah, you're back, so, who is the new recruit we all can't wait to meet?" Storm asked.

"Storm, this is Ashlyn." The Professor told them, gesturing to Ashlyn. "Ashlyn, this is Oruro Munroe, one of my teachers, and also known as Storm."

Ashlyn gave her a gentle smile. "Hello."

"Hello dear." Storm smiled. "Now, let's go and find you a room."

"If you don't mind Storm, Kitty will be showing her to her room." Charles told her, and the woman nodded, letting Kitty and Ashlyn walk ahead into the house.

"So, what is she like?" Storm asked the Professor once the girls had gone inside.

The professor looked at Storm and gave her a fond smile. "She's powerful and has rather amazing self control, but her power isn't why she is here…Will you let me access your mind?"

At storm's nod, the Professor showed her what he had witnessed both physically and mentally, and the latter made Storm gasped. "That, poor child."

The Professor nodded. "Yet she's worried for the family that she left behind." Eventually they stopped discussing Ashlyn and they headed inside, going to bed for the night.

The next morning, Ashlyn woke up to her alarm, and at seeing the time, she groaned and got out of bed, dressing in jeans and a short-sleeved button down shirt. After she slid on her pumps, there was a knock on the door, and when she opened it, she found Storm standing there, carrying a tray of toast and orange juice.

"Hello Miss Storm."

"Hello Ashlyn." She smiled. "I brought you some breakfast and your timetable." Storm told her, setting the tray on Ashlyn's bedside table.

"Thank you, Miss Storm." Ashlyn told her as she slid out of bed and pulled her clothes out of her wardrobe.

"You're welcome Ashlyn." Storm smiled.

"It's just Ashlyn, Miss." Ashlyn told her.

"Alright, then you can just call me Storm." Storm shared a smile with the girl, before she left her to get ready and have her breakfast. When she was ready, there was a voice outside of her door, asking for permission to enter, which was granted when Ashlyn recognised it to be the voice of Kitty, who phased through the door and sat on her bed.

"Hey, how did you sleep?"

"I slept pretty well actually, thank you." She smiled, before it faded.

"Do you miss your mum?"

"I miss and worry for her." Ashlyn told her with a sigh as she brushed her hair. "I don't want to have to wake up one morning to find that she's dead."

"Maybe you won't have to, maybe you'll wake up to hear that she's left him." Kitty told her.

Ashlyn looked at her. "Yeah, I'm hoping for that." She smiled. "You know, I've only known you for a few hours, but you're a pretty nice friend."

Kitty smiled and she hugged Ashlyn, who hugged her back. "Come on, let's go and sit through a lesson."

Both of the girls left Ashlyn's room and they walked towards their first class, Ethics with Professor Xavier, and they soon bumped a group of two guys and a girl who got to the class just as they did. Ashlyn noticed how Kitty went really shy at seeing one of the guys.

"Oh, um hey Bobby." Kitty stammered.

"Hey Kitty, who's your friend?" He asked, nodding to Ashlyn.

"I'm Ashlyn, Ashlyn Carplesteen." She told him as she held out her hand. "But you can call me Ash."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Robert Drake, but people call me Bobby." He smiled, shaking her hand.

"I'm John Allerdyce, but it's just John." John told her.

"And I'm Marie, but people call me Rogue." The girl nodded.

Ashlyn nodded. "It's nice to meet you, so are you all taking Ethics with us?"

"Yeah we are." Bobby told her as he opened the door and they all walked inside, finding seats. As the lesson went on, Xavier kept a close eye on Ashlyn, who was able to answer most questions that were given to her, and she was getting stares from the others, though he noticed how some of the guys looked at her. It wasn't freakiness, or dislike, it was almost with a form of lust. John was one of these people. He couldn't help but feel attracted to her, and he found himself sitting behind her in class, watching how she pushed her hair behind her ears and how she shifted to maintain her comfort in the hard backed seats. There was something...unbelievable...about this girl, she looked as ordinary as everyone else, and yet he was under some form of spell. He vowed to himself to find out why she had a hold over him and to find out what she was actually like.

When the lesson ended, John left with Bobby and Rogue, but it was long before Ashlyn, so he made an excuse to his friends in order to allow himself to go back. When he did, he found Ashlyn receiving some books from the Professor, and the Professor caught John's eye as she wheeled himself out of the room.

"_Good morning John, it was a pleasure to see you in class today, but please keep your thoughts to yourself_." The Professor told him, yet he never spoke to not arouse the suspicion of Ashlyn, and he went over to his desk to prepare for his next class.

When Ashlyn turned around and saw John, she did a double take, before she tried to slide past him, thinking that he wanted to speak to the Professor, and it surprised her when he left with her.

"So, you're from Australia, huh?"

"Yes...Why do you ask?"

"I was just asking because I'm from Down Under as well." John shrugged.

"Oh, which part?" She asked, looking at him.

"Sydney, what about you?"

"Queensland, I live not far from the reef."

"I used to go swimming off the reef as a kid; I think I've seen you before."

"You probably have, I go down there all the time, well when I'm allowed to anyway."

John raised an eyebrow at the depressed tone that she had but he didn't question it, instead he decided to change the subject.

"So, Ash, what can you do that makes you a mutant?"

Ashlyn looked at him. "I can create force fields, which can turn into pictures and also move things around the room." She told him. "What about you?"

"I can manipulate fire, that's why my X-Men name is Pyro."

"Oh, awesome, mine would probably be something like Shield." She told him laughing as she said it.

"Hey, that's a great idea, Shield." He smiled.

They both continued to smile and laugh with each other as they went to their other classes, before the day came to an end and they bid each other tonight. By now, John's interest and curiosity of the girl had grown and he wanted to find out everything that he could from her, and she herself seemed just as curious about him. This was looking to be a rather interesting friendship, one that both of them was certainly going to enjoy.


	3. Not So Secret Crush

Chapter 3 – Not So Secret Crush

Months had gone past since Ashlyn joined Xavier's school, she had made many friends, but her closest friends were John and Kitty. However, she almost held a soft spot for John, and tended to share more with him. They had come to know a lot about each other in these past few days, and right now they were sitting in a museum cafeteria waiting for Rogue and Bobby to join them, and while they waited, Ashlyn watched John play with his lighter.

"Where did you get something that decorated?" Ashlyn asked him as she suddenly swiped the lighter from his hands, the open flame not bothering her at all.

"Hey, give me it back." He told her with a smile, as she held it back out of his reach.

"Not until you tell me where you got it." Ashlyn told him with a teasing smile on her face.

"I'll tell you once I get it back." He told her, suddenly making a quick grab for it, but missing and he ended up knocking both himself and her off their chairs and onto the floor, where he landed on top of her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He told her as he quickly pushed himself up.

"Don't worry about it." She laughed, pushing herself up, and she took his hand when he offered it to her and she stood up.

When she was standing, they stood there for a few minutes, holding each other's hands and when John realised he let go of her as if she was a hot poker.

"Um, yeah once again, I'm sorry about that."He told her, sitting back at the table.

"And like I have said, John its fine." She smiled, sitting with him.

He didn't get to reply to her again, before Bobby and Rogue joined them, and then anything he wanted to tell her was thrown to the back of his mind and forgotten about.

"Is anyone else findin' dis trip borin', or iz it just me?" Rogue asked.

"Nope, I'm finding it boring too." Ashlyn sighed. "There's nothing to do."

"Well, we could try and sneak off."

_"__I wouldn't think about it if I were you, Mister Allerdyce."_

Everyone groaned as they heard the Professor's voice in their heads and then the other three looked at John.

"You and your big mouth." Bobby told him, though this caused both boys to laugh and start a small play fight, which still caused Ashlyn to move her chair closer to Rogue out of the way.

"Come on Rogue, let's go for a walk." Ashlyn whispered after a few minutes, and Rogue gave her a nod, getting up and walking away from the two boys, and they walked into a middle ages expo that was going on in the museum and they got to play dress up in the outfits that were being handed out. Overall, the girls were having a really good time together, and it wasn't impaired with Rogue's inability to touch.

"So, what's the deal wiv you an' John?" She asked as they were admiring themselves in one of the full length mirrors.

"Nothing really, we're just friends." Ashlyn told her.

"Come on Ash, you know that ah dun believe dat." Rogue told her.

"Okay then, these past few days, I've developed a crush on John, but please Rogue, don't say anything to him." She told her.

"Don't worry, I won't." She smiled.

Meanwhile, John and Bobby were looking around the museum for the girls, since they only noticed that they had left a few minutes ago.

"So, what's the deal with you and Ash?" Bobby asked.

"What do you mean?" John asked, playing it cool.

"Well, you do act pretty close, I was wondering if you-"He was then cut off by John.

"Is this one of your little girl talks Bobby? Because I can assure you that I'm not getting tricked into telling you anything." John told him.

"I was just curious John, because like I was going to say, she looks like she has a crush on you too." Bobby told him, holding his hands up in surrender.

John raised an eyebrow. "Okay, whatever." He sighed. "Yes, I do feel something for Ash, but if I find out you've told her Bobby, I'll put you six feet under."

"Don't worry John, I won't tell a soul." Bobby promised.

They went back to looking for the girls, eventually finding them near the middle ages expo, looking at the remains of artefacts from that era.

"Hey you two, where did you go?" Bobby asked, sliding his arms around Rogue, being careful.

"You two were busy, so we went for a walk." Ashlyn told them as she fixed her hair in the reflection of the glass case which held the artefacts.

"You could have stayed." John told her.

"Yeah, and get hurt by one of you, no thank you." Rogue told him, and together they all walked around the museum together.

Later that night, Bobby and Rogue were sitting in her room, listening to music, when she turned onto her side and looked at him.

"So, did you ask John?" Rogue asked him.

"About him having a crush on Ash?" Bobby asked her, just to clarify.

"Yeah." Rogue told him, sitting up straight in excitement.

"Well, I talked to him, and he said that he does have a crush on Ash, but I think that he's scared to do anything about it." Bobby told her, looking over at her. "What about Ash?"

"She said the same, an' like John, she's scared to do or say anythang about it. I'm not even supposed to be tellin' you about it."

"Well then, why don't we get them together?"

"That would be perfect." Rogue smiled.

Bobby nodded. "Then, how about we get them together?" He asked.

"Yeah, we should, but how?"

"Leave that to me." Bobby told her, giving her a careful hug.

What Bobby and Rogue didn't realise, was that Ashlyn and John were going to take matters into their own hands, based on what they felt for each other, and they both left their rooms, walking off to find the other, which resulted in them literally walking into each other in a hallway.

"John." Ash squeaked in surprise.

"Ash." John breathed.

"Hey, um I was just coming to find you..."

"Yeah, I was just looking for you too."

"John, we need to talk."

He nodded and the pair walked outside in the courtyard, where Ash stood by a cement bench, and she looked at him.

"John, I love you and I don't care who knows." Ashlyn told him, and she watched John freeze in place, looking at her.

When he had finally recovered, John looked at her. "Ash...I...I love you too."

They stood there staring at each other for a few minutes, before they started to smile, and Ashlyn ran over to him, throwing her arms around him as they shared a loving and romantic hug.

"Bobby asked me what I felt about you earlier." John told her randomly.

"So did Rogue." Ashlyn told him, before her head snapped up to look at him. "I've got an idea."

"What is it?" John asked, looking down at her from his height.

"Let's not tell anyone yet, because I think Rogue and Bobby are up to something, so let's just pretend to be single when we are around them, but when we're like this, we do what we want." Ashlyn told him.

"I like the sound of that." John smiled.

"Great." Ashlyn smiled.

The couple smiled at each other, before they decided to go back inside, remaining as they normally would, playfully pushing and shoving each other out of the way.


	4. Meeting the Drake Family

Chapter 4 – Meeting the Drake Family

"Oh wow, that film was amazing John." Ashlyn gushed as he walked her to her room, she and John had just come back from watching a movie at the theatre in town and they were both pretty happy.

"Yeah it was, though it doesn't exactly capture the whole idea of what a mutant actually is, does it?" He asked her as they walked into the corridor that led to her room.

"No, it doesn't." She stopped outside of her bedroom and she looked at him. "Thank you for this John." She smiled.

"You're very welcome." He smiled. "How long has it been since we got together?"

"We've been together for around a month now, why?"

"Because that means that I can now do this." He told her, touching her cheeks and he pulled her closer into a kiss.

The kiss lasted for a few minutes, as they didn't want to push their luck and they looked at each other as they pulled away.

"Are you going to invite me in?" He asked, nodding at her door.

"Hmm...No, not today, John." She told him, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek, before she walked inside her room and shut the door behind her.

John stood in front of the door for a few minutes, before he shook his head smiling and he walked to his own room, getting ready for bed. Ashlyn was lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling of her room and she smiled to herself, still about to feel the touch of John's lip to hers and her smile never left her face as she turned onto her side and shut out the light.

The house was quiet for a while, and everyone slept peacefully, until the high pitched sound of a girl screaming echoed through the mansion. It caused Ashlyn to suddenly sit up and she looked around, grabbing some flat shoes and putting them on, just as the door burst open and men in army uniforms charged in, but as they were about to shoot her, her hands went up and a shield protected her from the darts and she suddenly turned them around and threw them back at the men, before she ran from the room. Meanwhile, John heard the scream and he woke up with a jolt, grabbing his lighter and running from his room, heading straight to Ashlyn's room, though he started to panic when he found it empty and the guards on the floor, before he heard footsteps following him and he started to run back down the corridor, hoping that she was safe. However, Ashlyn was trying to get as many people as possible out of the building, and she was being helped by Peter Rasputin, also known as Colossus and they managed to get a number of students out through the secret escape hatches. Before she ran back and she heard a scream, so she followed it and found Bobby, Rogue and John about to get hit by a bomb, so automatically her shield went up to protect them from the blast.

"Ash!" They all seemed pretty happy to see her.

"Come on, we have to go, now." Ash said and they all started running down a corridor, where they got to the front door, but were soon confronted by a group of men in army gear, pointing guns at them. However, they all looked up as they heard a cry and they saw Logan launch himself off of the balcony above and land on the group of men, and using his claws, he killed them.

"Let's go." Logan told them and they all started running again, only this time they used a secret exit and got to the garage, where they climbed into a blue car, later described as belonging to Cyclops and Logan drove them away from the mansion.

As they drove, everyone tried to decide where they should go.

"Jean and Storm are in Boston, so we should start there." Logan told the teens.

"My parents live in Boston." Bobby told them, hoping that they would get the idea and go there to hide and also change their clothes.

"Then that's where we'll go, do you know how to find it?"

Bobby nodded and they spent the rest of the journey, with Rogue listening to Logan and Bobby as Bobby gave the directions and Ashlyn rested her head on John's shoulder as John rested his head on hers and he took her hand. However, they the car was suddenly turned upside down throwing both Rogue and Ashlyn out of the car, though Ashlyn minimised the amount of damage to Rogue by using a shield on her.

"Rogue!" Logan and Bobby shouted as they got out of the car and ran over to her.

"Ash!" John ran over to her, and helped her to sit up. "Easy Ash, it's okay, I've got you." He told her, helping her to fully stand up.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at him.

"We were hit by something." Logan told her.

"Could it have been that?" John asked, nodding over to a helicopter that was flying towards them.

Everyone gasped and as it fired, they all hid in on themselves, except for Ashlyn who was standing with her hands up so her palms faced the sky and nothing was able to touch them. This gave John the opportunity to use his power over fire to shoot the helicopter down and then they tried to make their way through the surrounding forests towards Boston.

They reached Bobby's parents house just as it became late morning, and Bobby managed to find a spare key on the porch and he let them into the house.

"Mom, dad, Ronnie, anyone home?" Bobby shouted as they all walked in and when there was no answer, he looked at everyone. "I'll try and find us all some clothes, don't burn anything." He warned John, as he took Rogue with him upstairs and John and Ashlyn walked into the lounge with Logan going into the kitchen. Bobby managed to pass John some of his old clothes, which consisted of a pair of jogging pants a pair of flip flops and a long sleeved beige t-shirt, and Ashlyn some of his mom's old clothes, which consisted of a pair of washed out jeans and a red long sleeved shirt, since she already wore black flats. However he spent most of his time upstairs with Rogue, so when they were dressed, Ash and John lounged around the living room. Ashlyn looked over at John who was looking at some pictures that were on one of the walls and she noticed how unhappy John looked.

"What's the matter John?"

"It's just like good old Bobby to have a wall dedicated to his...Achievements." John told her, looking back at her.

"And you're jealous?" She asked, walking to stand in front of him and she took his lighter from him then took his hand and moved to it on the armrest of the sofa holding his hands.

"I'm not jealous."

"Really, because you could have fooled me." She told him. "John, you and I come from the same sort of background, the ones who are forgotten, but you don't have to display your achievements just to make people want to congratulate you like Bobby does."

"What achievements do I have Ash, really?" He asked her.

"A lot, John you mastered your gift pretty quickly, that's an achievement, and at the risk of sounding big headed, you and I are together, that can be an achievement for both you and me." She told him.

John smiled, sliding his arms around her as she stood up. "Yeah, this is an achievement." He told her, smiling before he pressed a kiss to her lips.

However, the couple pulled away pretty quickly as they heard a cough from behind them and they moved to stand by the doorway as Bobby, Rogue and Logan walked in followed by who they could only describe as Bobby's parents and his brother.

"Um, Bobby why are there two people sitting on our couch, making out?" The woman asked.

"That was hardly making out." John muttered, but Ashlyn dug him in the ribs.

"John, stop it." Ashlyn told him, and she watched him flick his lighter on and then shut it, taking to doing this repeatedly as Bobby's parents talked to him.

"So are you all friends with Bobby?" Mrs Drake asked.

"Yeah, John and I are close friends, but Rogue's more than a friend to me." Bobby smiled, his hand entwining with Rogue's who looked up and smiled.

"Rogue, that's an unusual name dear." Mrs Drake told her.

"Well, ma name iz actually Marie." She told them. "But I prefer Rogue."

Mr Drake nodded, before he looked at Ashlyn. "And what's your name?"

"Ashlyn, but people call me Ash." Ashlyn told him.

"Right and what can the four of you do?" Mrs Drake asked after she watched Bobby turn her drink to ice.

"Do you want us to show you, or explain?" Rogue asked.

"Show us what you can." Mr Drake told them.

Everyone looked at Logan, as his claws suddenly shot out, and Bobby's parents seemed to shrink back into their seats, before they looked at John as a fireball suddenly seemed to appear in his hands, and then they looked at Ashlyn. Though nothing seemed to happen to her as she moved to the other side of the room, until John threw the fireball at her and Ashlyn's hand shot up, the fireball hitting her shield and fizzling out.

When everyone looked at Rogue she looked back at them. "Mine's not safe." She explained.

Bobby's parents were about to say something, before there was a sudden beeping sound and everyone looked at Logan as he realised that it was coming from him and he pulled out the phone that they had managed to collect from the car before they were forced over, and he excused himself from the room to answer it.

"Um excuse me; I wouldn't be able to get a drink of water by any chance?" Ashlyn asked.

"Oh of course, Ronnie, show her where she can get a drink." Mrs Drake told her younger son, who simply nodded and got up lading Ashlyn towards the kitchen and he watched her as he showed her how to get a drink, and as she done so he just stood there watching her.

"Why are you watching me?" She asked him as she washed out her cup and put it on the draining board.

"Because you're one of those freaks, only you can hide your ability." Ronnie told her.

"We aren't freaks Ronnie, we are still people." She told him.

"Yeah, whatever." He suddenly grabbed one of her wrist. "You're all freaks and nothing is going to change that."

"Ronnie, let go of me."

"Fine, but one day all of you are going to die." Ronnie told her.

"And will that satisfy you?" Ashlyn asked him. "To see your brother die, to lose him and have no way to get him back?"

"At times it would, but I'd make sure that Bobby was safe and he didn't have anything to do with people like you ever again."

"What power do you have to do that? You're a kid Ronnie, you aren't mutated like us, what could you do against people who wanted to kill us?" She asked and when he didn't answer she raised an eyebrow to him. "That's what I thought."

She walked back into the living room just as Logan came back into the room from his phone call and he looked worried.

"We have to go, now." Logan told the teens in a gruff voice and they all looked at him in worry.

"Logan what's wrong?" Rogue asked as they all followed him out of the front door, and that proved to be a bad idea, especially when Logan unsheathed his claws.


End file.
